JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (March 24, 2009) - The ETSU baseball team pounded out a season high 26 hits as the Bucs cruised to a 18-11 win over UNC Asheville Tuesday night at Cardinal Park.

The Bucs improve to 10-10 on the season and 3-6 in league play, while the Bulldogs fall to 4-18 on the season.

Sophomore pitcher Chas Byrne (Johnson City, Tenn.) earned his second win of the season as he went 5.0 innings allowing three runs (two earned) on ten hits and struck out two.

First baseman Paul Hoilman (Johnson City, Tenn.) put the Bucs up 2-0 in the bottom of the first as he singled to center to score the right fielder Cory Betterson (Atlanta, Ga.) and left fielder Troy Mendez (Roswell, Ga.). Later in the inning, catcher Derek Trent (Kingsport, Tenn.) added another ETSU run as he singled over the head of the Bulldog first baseman driving in third baseman Bo Reeder (Cookeville, Tenn.) to make the score 3-0.

The Bucs added three more runs in the bottom of the second as Mendez crushed a three-run home run over the fence in left center to increase the ETSU lead to 6-0.

UNC Asheville cut into the lead in the top of the third as a run came around to score on a Betterson error in right to make the score 6-1 Buccaneers.

ETSU added a six more runs in the bottom of the fourth as the Bucs batted around in the inning to take a 12-1 lead. The inning was highlighted by a Hoilman RBI double, a Ben Allen (Kingsport, Tenn.) RBI single, a Matthew Scruggs (Knoxville, Tenn.) RBI single and a Mendez two-run single.

The Bulldogs narrowed the gap in the top of the fifth as they scored two runs on a Justin Schumer grounder to second and a Beau Zinman single to cut the ETSU lead to 12-3.

In the bottom of the fifth, the Bucs answered scoring three runs on RBI singles by Allen and Scruggs and a grounder to short by May to make the score 15-3.

UNCA scored cut into the ETSU lead in the top of the sixth scoring three runs on one hit and a Buccaneer error to cut the lead to 15-6.

Asheville added four more runs in the top of the seventh on three hits and two ETSU errors to bring the score to 15-10 Bucs.

The Bucs added a couple insurance runs in the bottom of the seventh as Betterson and Reeder singled in a couple runs, and shortstop Garrett May (Roswell, Ga.) came in to score on a wild pitch to increase the ETSU lead to 18-10.

The Bulldogs added one more run in the top of the ninth on a Schumer single to make the final 18-11.

ETSU was led offensively by the front end up the batting order as the one through five hitters combined for 20 hits, 11 runs and 12 RBI.

UNC Asheville starter Justin Schumer (0-4) was charged with the loss after going 3.0 innings allowing nine runs (eight earned) on 11 hits with six strikeouts and two walks.

The Bucs are back in action Friday at 6 p.m. as they head to Macon, Ga. to take on conference opponent Mercer in a three-game series. Please visit www.ETSUBucs.com for more information on ETSU baseball and all other Buccaneer athletic news.